The present invention relates to a tape cassette suitable for use in record reproducing equipment such as video tape recorders, and other information processing equipment.
A conventional tape cassette includes a cassette shell (or case) having an interior space receiving tape reels and a tape inlet and outlet opening receiving a part of a magnetic tape, and a cassette lid which is rotatably mounted on the cassette shell and which covers the front side of the tape in the closed state.
In the thus-constructed tape cassette, tape loading is performed by insertion into a video tape recorder (or a video cassette recorder, VCR). When the cassette is inserted into the video tape recorder, a tape loading guide comes into the tape inlet and outlet opening from below, and then moves out of the tape inlet and outlet opening to draw the tape out of the cassette shell so that the tape loading operation can be carried out.
In this case, an opening lever of the tape recorder pushes the lid upward from below, and applies a rotational force in the lid opening direction to the cassette lid.
Recently, there has been proposed a tape cassette having a back lid covering the back side of the tape in addition to a front lid covering the front side of the tape, in order to improve the protection of the tape. One example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,373.
In the conventional tape cassette of the single lid type having no back lid, however, the rotational angle of the cassette lid is set at a relatively small angle because a sufficient space for tape loading is obtained even if the open angle of the lid is small. Accordingly, it is not possible to add another (back) lid for covering the back side of the tape behind the (front) lid covering the front side of the tape without changing the conventional open angle. The back lid, if interposed without changing the open angle of the front lid, would come in contact with the tape in the tape inlet and outlet opening during the lid opening operation, disturbing the tape loading. As a result, the conventional tape cassette can not improve the tape protecting ability, and tends to suffer drop-out in recording and reproducing.